“Try to Rig the Election”!? Hakeem Jeffries Warns MAGA Is Targeting Black Voting Power

All right, now do you want to go ahead and get your Knicks references out of the way before we get started or what? Ollie, I'll get it out of your system right now before we get started. Orange and blue skies. Now also before we get started, I should note that this audience can submit questions online. So what you want to do is you want to look for the prompt to do so on your NABJ app. It's under the Newsmaker Plenary event, okay? All right. Well, Leader Jeffries, let's get started. Now, you're about 82 days out from the midterm elections, which are going to decide which party controls Congress. But today you're here with us in Atlanta, Georgia, in a room full of black journalists. What is your message to this audience in this moment? Well, good morning, everyone. Thank you, Erin, for your leadership. And to NABJ, thank you for what you do. This is a moment of peril, but a moment when the press overall and I think the black press in particular is needed. Your independence, your voice, your authenticity and your connection to the communities that you cover, as well as to the country. Our journey as African-Americans, of course, has been a freedom struggle from the very beginning. And we've been on a long walk toward freedom with fits and starts, with progress and backlash that has been the reality of our walk over the last 250 years. But every step of the way, the black press and covering. That journey authentically has been an important part of making sure that truth is being spoken to power and we need truth spoken to power now more than ever. Yeah. And what do you see the role of black journalists in doing that, especially with the truth being under attack and under threat from the highest levels of our government? Well, in my view, what we're dealing with in terms of the opposition right now is three diabolical elements. Facts don't matter. Hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior. These extremists will say one thing and then they'll do the exact opposite. And I'm convinced that they believe that shamelessness is a superpower. So when you're dealing with that kind of adversary or at least that kind of entity, the Trump cartel sitting in the White House, highest office in the land, then being unbought, unbossed, unafraid in terms of speaking truth to power in that regard is going to be critically important. Now, I think the American people aren't buying what they're selling because we've seen historic disapproval across almost every measure. Right. That's general disapproval. That's the economy. Certainly that's health care, even immigration enforcement. And certainly this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I want to go back in time a little bit, because when you came into Congress in 2013, John Boehner was the House speaker. Nancy Pelosi was in your position now as minority leader and you were 44 years old. A lot of people saw you as a firebrand progressive coming in with a lot of big ideas on criminal justice. I think I was 42, but not that well, you know, fact check me. Economic opportunity on generational change. Do you recognize that progressive platform in what the progressive wing of your party is fighting for now? Yeah, I do think that we are in an important moment of generational change. And, you know, I give a lot of credit to Speaker Pelosi, you know, then Majority Whip Clyburn, Majority Leader Hoyer, who in 2022 decided that they were going to voluntarily pass the baton to the next generation of House Democrats across the board in leadership and beyond. So that's a transition that, of course, is necessarily underway. And I've always thought about the House of Representatives as a special institution. It's the institution that the framers decided to be the closest, wanted to be the closest to the American people, reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, the life experiences and the passions of the American people. I think it was Madison who said the House should be an intimate sympathy at its best with the American people. And so in order for that to happen, I think transition, change, renewal will continue to be an important part of the story. And that energy is being brought to the House in a variety of different ways, including from our progressive members. Yeah. I mean, I think we could see that with these midterm elections in November. You've got the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA, with several candidates who are on the ballot headed into these midterm elections. Your thoughts on what that energy, how that represents some of the change that you are talking about that's happening in the progressive wing of your party? Yeah. So I think we'll see, you know, what happens in terms of what the caucus looks like on the other side of the midterm election. Certainly our focus right now is making sure that we win as many seats as we can in November, flip as many red seats blue and take the gavels back so we can actually function like a check and balance on and out of control administration, as opposed to what Republicans have been doing, which is a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. Entirely inconsistent with the vision of the House of Representatives. I mean, it was interesting. King Charles, when he came to the Congress joint address, you know, to the House and to the Senate, stood there as a king and referenced the Magna Carta. As the principle and foundation for the notion in America that executive power is subject to checks and balances. And of course, when he said that, everybody on the House side, the Democratic side of the House stood up and gave him a rousing ovation. But then I look over to the other side of the aisle, the Republican side, and they stood up and gave him a standing ovation. And I was very confused, y'all, because King Charles was talking about them and their failure to actually bring to life this principle. So we're going to do that. That'll connect all House Democrats, whether those are new Dems, progressives or blue dogs. But I think most importantly, everybody is focused on the notion that life is too expensive in the United States of America. There's far too many people. Certainly, this is the case in our community, in the black community, who are working hard. They're playing by the rules, but they can't thrive and they can barely survive. And that's got to change. And so we have to make life more affordable, more comfortable for the American people. And that's what unites every part of the House Democratic caucus. Yeah. Well, I will say there's one thing I want to ask about, and that is aid for Israel, because that may be one of the most contentious issues in your caucus. Many members, including you, have said that they want that aid to come with conditions. But what do you say to others who want to cut that aid off completely? Well, I think that that's certainly a conversation that we're going to have about what's the appropriate way to bring to life, I think, some principles that pretty much everybody within the House Democratic caucus. And I think America agrees with the way I would articulate it is like this one. You know, we believe in a safe and secure Israel, right? Or Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. We also believe in an independent Palestinian state that for far too long has been denied and that should be able to provide dignity and self-determination for the Palestinian people. And then the question becomes, how do you bring those two principles to life in a part of the world that has been contested for thousands of years? And I think what is clear in terms of what needs to be done is that, one, you've got to reconstruct Gaza. You've got to allow new Palestinian leadership to emerge. Hamas has got to be out. You've got to figure out how you can economically invest in Gaza and the West Bank, you know, in ways that allow the Palestinian community to thrive on a pathway toward a independent state. And then you've got to figure out, you know, how to make sure that people who have been breaking the law, U.S. law, are held accountable. And certainly that's the case with respect to settler violence in the West Bank that's out of control. Yeah. Well, I want to stay on the DSA for a minute because they're pushing a lot of these progressive candidates and many of them are loud about getting big money out of politics. What do you make of that push? What is your what is your thought about that? I think that we have to end Citizens United. And one of the things there's been a series of Supreme Court decisions that have eroded democracy in America. Ending Citizens United was perhaps the first that came in 2010. Then in 2013, you had the Supreme Court in the Shelby County case decimate Section five. That was the initial attack on the Voting Rights Act. Decimate Section five of the Voting Rights Act. Then a few years after that, you had the Supreme Court declare that partisan gerrymandering is all, you know, fair in the political sphere and that there's nothing to prohibit it in the Constitution. And then you had, I think, the final devastating two decisions most recently by the Supreme Court, which is one, of course, completely gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the most recent Calais decision. And then the decision that I think has unleashed this unprecedented corruption on the country is in the Trump v. United States case where they gave the president basically complete immunity as if he was a king. So you have a series of systematic decisions going over the last 15 plus years that have really decimated sort of our democratic fabric. And we've got to unravel all of it. But Citizens United, I think, was the first. And we support full repeal of Citizens United. You can only bring that about in two different ways, either a constitutional amendment or a change in the Supreme Court. I think we're open to aggressively pursuing both. Got it. I want to let you all know you should still, for those of you who may have come in, please, you can ask questions. You can submit your questions by using the app that is your NABJ app. You can go under Newsmaker Plenary and you can submit your questions. Keep those coming. And we're going to try to get to some of those in just a bit. So, Leader Jeffries, even if your party wins back the majority in November, that won't change the White House. President Trump will still be in office. You've talked about your two sides, you know, seeing your two sides. You see, you talked about seeing the Democratic Party coming together on the other side of November. But do you see possibly Democrats and Republicans being able to come together to accomplish anything substantial for the American people and even in this new climate? Yeah, I think we have to try anchored in the premise that Donald Trump has broken every single promise that he's made to the American people of consequence. He promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down. Costs have gone up as a direct result of Trump policies, including his tariffs that have increased costs on everyday Americans, people in our community and beyond by thousands of dollars per year. He promised that immigration enforcement was going to target the worst of the worst. But immigration enforcement has basically unleashed ice brutality on American citizens like Alex Freddie and Renee Nicole Good in those instances, killing them in cold blood and certainly ice brutality, violently targeting law abiding immigrants all across the country. I was just with several in New Jersey connected to Delaney Hall earlier in this week. He broke that promise. He promised to release the Epstein files, broke that promise. We forced a vote on the issue. About half the files have been released. The other half still being subjected to a cover up by the Department of Justice. Donald Trump promised right to love and cherish Medicaid, then enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, costing about 14 million Americans their health care and devastating hospitals, nursing homes and community based health clinics in our communities and in rural America, the heartland of America and all across America. And then lastly, of course, this guy promised that he was in office not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them. And it turned around and got us involved in the reckless war of choice in Iran. So he's broken every promise that he's made. Now, down the stretch, we've made clear to the American people we're fighting for an affordable America. And we've said that looks like three different things on costs, on care and then on corruption on costs. We got to lower the cost of groceries, of gasoline, of housing because life is far too expensive. On health care, we've said, look, this is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We've got to make health care affordable for every single American. And that's our commitment. Reverse the damage that's been done and then build something better. And then on corruption, our view has been. I don't know that we'll get partnership on corruption, but we'll try to seek some common sense. Republicans, the few that are left in Washington to work with us on costs and on health care. But on corruption, we've said if you've got people in office who are focused primarily in enriching themselves, their family, their friends and their donors, then they're not focused on making life more affordable for the American people. And so from beginning on day one, we're going to hold the crooks accountable. These are the explicit promises that we're making to the American people. And we have a responsibility to try to bring that about. And if we're in a divided government scenario, we can do the accountability stuff in the majority on our own clothing gavels and subpoena power. But in terms of actually moving legislation that makes life better for the American people, we'll need a handful of Republicans to join us. Now, we've forced Republicans to join us in the House on a variety of different issues, including extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years on our terms. Force that vote and then won that vote in January. I think in the majority, we'll have the ability to do more. Well, I want to back up to before day one and think about the other side of the November election, because, you know, in 2020, when you were able to regain control, there was an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Are you concerned about possible backlash after the November election? Well, I think we're operating under the premise that the. Trump administration and that Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy, and they're going to do everything they can to try to rig the election in their favor. We've already seen that through the gerrymandering efforts. And then the Supreme Court aided and abetted the MAGA extremists by unleashing Jim Crow like tactics in the South. And, you know, we've seen that now in Tennessee and in Louisiana and in Alabama, certainly in Alabama. Shamari figures running hard. And I believe he's going to hold that seat, but making it very difficult for the African-American community to elect the candidate of their choice in all three places. Certainly, that's the case in Tennessee and in Louisiana, with Cleo Fields deciding not to seek reelection as a result of what has happened. So we're operating under the premise that we've got to put together the largest voter protection effort in the history of the country. And that's what we've been doing. House Democrats, Senate Democrats, Democratic Governors Association, the Democratic Attorney General's Association, the Democratic Secretaries of State Association, and then working in concert with civil society, the faith community, civil rights groups, organized labor, as well as civil liberties groups and good government groups. It will be the largest voter protection effort in the history of the country. That's to make sure that the right to vote is fully vindicated. And the press's role in exposing these efforts and the schemes that's coming from the other side is going to be important so that the American people have full visibility into what the other side is trying to do. They can't defend their record. And so they're going to try to alter the landscape electorally, and we can't let it happen. Well, I mean, some of that coalition building, some of the concern I hear you voicing, is that because, in part, you may be worried that that the president could declare a national emergency as he has not ruled out doing ahead of the twenty twenty six election. Yeah, I think we've always viewed this as a three dimensional battle, legislative battle, litigation battle, and then a battle for the hearts and minds of the American people and communities all across the country. And we got to be able to to do all three. And we have been doing all three. And we've got to continue at the highest level of vigilance in that regard. Listen, anything is possible. I was there on January six and on the House floor. And I'll never forget, you know, that day. And it's a day that no American should ever forget. It was a violent insurrection. And I was seated in the leadership section at the time. And I was the number five Democrat, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus at the time. And there was a debate that was going on, I think was to certify the results from Arizona because we proceed in alphabetical order. And Sergeant at Arms interrupts the debate and says the mob has breached the Capitol. They're on the second floor. So everybody needs to be prepared to hit the ground. And secure the gas masks that are underneath your seats. Now, I got to be honest, I was in Congress at that point, a little over four terms. I had no idea there were gas masks underneath each and every seat. So I'm thinking to myself, damn, this is a situation right now. And, you know, eventually we were all evacuated. And then obviously we saw what unfolded. And this was this was an intentional effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power never before seen in American history. And if it's happened before, as Jim Clyburn, the great Jim Clyburn often says, it can happen again. And so we'll be prepared. Well, what happens if you don't win? Failure is not an option. And look, if the Knicks just won the championship for the first time in 53 years, the Democratic comeback can take place. I set myself up for that one. So, look, you've got progressives saying they want leadership. Democratic voters are saying they want a fighter. How do you feel like you've earned their support? Yeah, well, you know, I've been proud of the effort that's been underway by House Democrats from the very beginning. But it's not been easy. It's been tough because the moment is tough for the American people and what I think we've talked about as House Democrats is, look, we have to continue to stretch. We're in a more is more environment. And because of the unprecedented extremism being unleashed on the American people, we have to be in a position to do more and do more differently and do more creatively. And that's what we've tried to do. It's both right, stopping the extremism whenever and wherever possible from being unleashed on the American people and then articulating a forward vision for what we believe needs to be done in this country, fighting for an affordable America, holding the crooks accountable for the ability, accountability, cost care, corruption. And I think after the twenty twenty four election, there were a lot of people who were understandably, including Democrats, asking the question, have has the party forgotten how to win? This happened again. And now we all have to deal with the fallout from him coming back into office. I think what we have shown collectively, and this is because of the American people over the last 18 plus months, is that we've won every meaningful election. Up and down the ballot across the country, at the local level, at the city level, at the county level and certainly at the state level. I think there's something like 31 legislative seats that have changed hands over the last 18 months. All 31 of those seats have been won by Democrats. Republicans haven't flipped a single seat. And we've seen, you know, movements emerge and different type of candidates get elected in New York City, in New Jersey, in Virginia, Prop 50 in California, across the board. So I do think that we've turned a corner. But we, of course, have to finish the job. And finishing the job is not the November midterm elections. That's just the beginning of the end. It's not the end. We can cut his presidency legislatively in half by winning the midterm elections. And that's incredibly important. But then we've got to turn this situation around. And by the way, I should just say this is not all political. We are in a backlash moment. And the people in this room have been on the wrong side of that backlash, as have many in our community across the country. But we're in a backlash moment in America. And, you know, we've seen from the very beginning of our journey, whenever progress is made in this country, it often triggers a backlash. And we had the progress of emancipation, the progress of reconstruction. And then after 13 or 14 years, that progress is short circuited by a backlash and the rise of Jim Crow. The rise of the KKK, the lynching epidemic, Plessy versus Ferguson. And it takes almost 100 years to unravel that backlash. And then a new generation emerges, civil rights heroes and foot soldiers to usher in a new era of progress for our community and for America through the civil rights legislation that was historic Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing Act, Great Society programs that Dr. King and others fought for, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, things of that nature. But then that immediately. Is followed by a backlash with the election of Richard Nixon. In 1968, who ran on a platform of capitalizing on the anxiety to all the progress that had just been made. And then in his first term, declares a war on drugs, which is a war on us. And when he declares drug abuse, public enemy number one in his first term. In the summer of 1971. There are less than 300000 people incarcerated in America. Today, about 2.2 million disproportionately black. Latino. Or low income of every race. Progress followed by backlash. And then you have what I believe was a third moment of progress in this country. And that's the election of Barack Obama. Historic election. Incredible thing for us to go from the outhouse to the White House. And of course, it represented significant progress and some incredible things, including the Affordable Care Act were accomplished. And our children, being able to look at. A President Obama, a first lady, Michelle Obama, their eloquence, their brilliance, their class, their character. Of course, Sasha Malia and grandma all being up in the White House as well. What an incredible thing, that progress. But you remember, many were asking the question at the time. Does this mean that America has now entered into a post-racial phase? That's the question. Roland remembers that was being asked. At the time, those of us who have studied history know that though was meaningful progress, it also also meant that it was about to trigger a ferocious backlash. And that's exactly the moment that we're in right now. And we've got to show up with character and courage and conviction to get through it. Yeah. Well, I want to get to a couple of questions from the audience if we can. You talked about the Voting Rights Act. We've got a question asking, why didn't Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act between 2021 and 2023 when it was introduced and Democrats held majority in all three branches? And if you all are victorious in November, should you be the next speaker? Would this be one of your first priorities? Yeah, absolutely. I've said that publicly on the campaign trail, on the Florida House and all across America. And just a nuance to that question. The House did pass the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act under the leadership of Terry Sewell and the CBC. Not once, but twice. We sent it over to the Senate. Not once, but twice, including when we had the trifecta. And Joe Biden was president. And unfortunately, you had to. Though we had 51 Democrats, there were two Democrats at the time. I guess they maybe have been independents caucusing with the Democrats who chose not to create an exception to the filibuster in order to allow voting rights to be fully brought to life in the United States of America. And that was a mistake. And what we've seen from the other side is that when they have power, they use it. And so I think one of the lessons has to be when we have the ability to move forward and get meaningful things done, we've got to use it. And President Obama, by the way, here in Atlanta in 2020 during John Lewis's funeral, pointed out President Obama. That the filibuster is a relic of the past and needs to be reformed. And we certainly support filibuster reform. Well, talking about reform, we have another question. It's about the Supreme Court. You mentioned two ways that the Supreme Court could be overhauled. Could you expand on that? And are Democrats prepared to act to take action on that now? In my view, dramatic Supreme Court reform is necessary. And, you know, I'm going to leave it to the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, led by Jamie Raskin, who will be the next chair. The American people give us the ability to govern on their behalf in the majority. And there's a variety of different options that are on the table. And I think that we can't foreclose any single one of them. The Supreme Court, the conservative right wing majority on the Supreme Court has become, you know, basically a subsidiary of the MAGA Republican Party. That's what that decision in Calais said to me. And then they turned around when a court in Alabama. Right. A three judge panel in Alabama found that the new map that Alabama Republicans wanted to put in place that would gut the second black opportunity to elect district, the district that Shamari figures now holds. That three judge panel said that it was an attack, a racially motivated attack on black voters in Alabama. One of those judges, I believe, was appointed by Ronald Reagan. And the other two were appointed by Donald Trump. If a three judge federal panel appointed by Republican judges, two of whom were appointed by the current president, could conclude that that was a racially motivated map attacking black voters and the Supreme Court steps in and overturns that decision. It tells me that they don't have the credibility for us to move forward, acting like everything is OK and the status quo is acceptable. It's not. And we're going to push for dramatic reform of the Supreme Court. Well, Leader Jeffries, thank you again for coming here, being with us, answering some of the questions from the black journalists in the room and talking here with me. Thank you, Erin. You got it.